


I can hear the bells

by looneytails (mixthealphabet)



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Jewelry Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Sibling Interference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 20:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3868756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixthealphabet/pseuds/looneytails
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bellamy Blake is dangerous, but Clarke Griffin refuses to be the other woman.</p><p>[Or the AU where Clarke is a jeweler and thinks Bellamy must have a significant other, because of how often he buys things.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	I can hear the bells

When Clarke had entered the jewelry design business, she’d seriously thought things through.

She’d weighted the pros and cons of opening her own shop, she’d done her research concerning venues and specializations, and she’d even accepted Well’s help with their marketing. She’d recognized that she would probably struggle in the beginning, but she had also had confidence in her art.

She’d expected the tiredness and the satisfaction. She’d expected the gradual success and the light media coverage. She’d even somewhat expected the inspiration that bled from her fingertips to charcoal from so many people and so many stories that now crossed her path.

A benefice that she had not expected was the incredibly good-looking man that walked through her door almost monthly.

It had started maybe a week after their opening.

He’d been wearing a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up in a manner that brought attention to the lean muscle of his forearms, to his biceps and shoulders. She was never able to tell if boys knew how attractive that was.

Clarke wasn’t ashamed to say that she’d taken advantage of his distraction with her designs to stare at him.

Now, almost a year later, she had learned a bit more of self-control. She had been the other woman, once upon a time, and it was safe to say that it didn’t agree with her. If there was something that had given her solace after the whole Finn debacle, it was the fact that she’d been as much of a victim as Raven.

She’d walked away with a best friend and a cautionary tale, and that was that.

Bellamy Blake, on the other hand, was dangerous.

She had never made a move on him and she never would. That first day, he’d brought a ring to be restored, clearly a family heirloom, and that had been the end of whatever hopes Clarke had created in regards to him.

The man was about to be engaged. She was not going down that rabbit hole again.

“Thanks, Clarke. Octavia will love this.” His hair needed a trim, falling over his eyes while he fiddled with the necklace’s clasp. “She won’t stop talking about the metalwork in the last piece I bought.” A smile tugged on his lips, as it always did when he talked about his fiancé. “Something about the technique to bend it?”

Clarke liked the honesty of his expression, how he never bothered to pretend to know about jewelry. Even back at their first meeting, he’d looked around for a bit, before declaring her skilled enough to mess around with his mother’s ring.

She hadn’t appreciated the term “mess around with”, nor the tone he’d used, all gruff and authoritative. The discussion that had ensued had been the first of many, but also the start of a strange friendship.

“Yeah,” she smirked. “Not bad for a spoiled little princess, right?”

Bellamy chuckled, shaking his head lightly. There was no sheepishness in the angles of his face, no shame. He knew he’d been forgiven for his initial hostility long ago.

“You can’t deny that royalty knows its jewels. It’s part of their power.” He raised his hands in a defensive stance, playfully.

“If only I had the power to shut you up,” she rebutted, smiling. “You grow more insufferable with each visit.”

“Only for you, princess.” He winked at her.

The truth was Clarke didn’t want to ask about his fiancé. She didn’t want to ask if they had already gotten married or if they were still planning everything. Octavia’s image hanged over her head, but the blurriness of it, the vagueness of her existence, made it too easy for Clarke to pretend that Bellamy’s kindness was more than mere politeness.

Asking about his marriage would make it real, and Clarke wasn’t ready for that.

He looked down at his watch, frowning. The roughness of that expression made him look almost sinful in his white t-shirt and heavy coat.

Yes, Bellamy Blake was terribly dangerous.

“I have to go, but I’ll come back later for the necklace, okay?”

Clarke waved as nonchalantly as she could, before groaning.

Working in collaboration with him had probably been one the biggest mistakes she could have made. It had allowed her too much access to his thoughts and presence, to his past. She’d found out about his mother’s death and about his job as a professor, about the fact he had a sister who he loved dearly.

They never stayed on these matters for long, but it was almost a relief to find someone who understood the effect that losing a parent could have in one’s life.

More than anything, they just… talked.

She would go on a tangent about the cut of the gem and Bellamy would nod along, struggling to keep up, but trying nonetheless. Then, he would mention the importance of this or that kind of jewelry during such and such periods, and she would smile, because it was simply ridiculous that a man that handsome could also be a gigantic nerd.

She was saved from her thoughts as a woman walked into the shop, her long brown hair still wet from the snow outside. She was pretty – prettier than many of the models Well’s had made her use in campaigns – and she was dressed in a simple jacket, looking completely unprepared for the weather.

Clarke almost whimpered. What was it with today and good-looking unattainable people?

“How can I help you?” she asked instead, throwing her shoulders back in an attempt to look professional.

The woman looked up from one of the stands, a brilliant smile spreading across her lips.

“Hello!” she exclaimed, fair eyes tracing Clarke’s expression and clothes. “Just looking, actually.” She waved her hand around. “Sweet set up you’ve got here.”

There was something familiar in the way the woman spoke, the easiness and bluntness of it.

“My brother told me about this place. He says you seem to really know what you’re doing,” the woman explained, after only a breath of silence. “He’s good at that, at finding genuine people.”

Clarke nodded, wondering which of her clients that was. Maybe the husband from yesterday, who’d stayed to discuss carats with her.

“I like to think that my designs are a form of art. They are supposed to reveal something about their users.” The blonde looked down at the collection of rings she’d just brought to the shop. They were all pastel-colored gemstones, from morganite and rose quartz to opal. “Sometimes they reveal something about myself.”

The woman raised her eyebrows, gaze flickering to the rings, but she didn’t bring attention to it, for which Clarke was thankful.

“So, you’re an artist? I thought those just lived off ramen and pizza, and covered themselves in paint so others would think they were being productive.”

Despite her words, there was only teasing in the woman’s eyes when she looked at Clarke, no malice.

“I do that, too.”

They laughed.

“Oh, this is pretty!” The brunette had moved closer to the counter and she was looking at Bellamy’s necklace, the one they’d created together as a gift to Octavia. The pendant was of a small butterfly; simple enough that the gem wouldn’t seem too expensive, but with wings made of silver spirals.

“It’s Imperial Topaz,” Clarke informed, before she could stop herself. “The ancient Egyptians and Romans believed its golden hue was a result of the sun god giving it the power to protect and heal.” She paused, blinking. “Sorry, it’s not for sale.”

The woman narrowed her eyes at Clarke, but she was smirking.

“Let me guess,” she huffed, “Bellamy asked you to make this.”

Clarke spluttered. Almost immediately, her eyes fell to the woman’s left hand, where a familiar engagement ring rested on her finger.

“You’re Octavia.”

The woman chuckled.

“I’m Octavia Blake, Bellamy’s sister.”

“His sister,” Clarke parroted, still unable to get over her shock.

Octavia snickered, grabbing the necklace and fumbling with the clasp in her hurry to put it on.

“Bell thinks he has to buy me this sort of thing while I’m still home. He says that he was unable to spoil me for the past 25 years, so he wants to do it now that I am engaged. _I_ think he’s just trying to buy his way into my good graces after being such a jerk to my fiancé.” She stopped in front of a mirror, admiring the long chain and the contrast between the golden gem and the silver. “I love it, and I love him, but it’s almost too much. I know that Lincoln asked him for help with mom’s ring, too. I know you were the one who repaired it.”

“I… It wasn’t –” In reality, Clarke didn’t even know what she was trying to say. It had been her first restoration, which was why she and Bellamy had fought. It _was_ kind of a big deal, because it had become sort of her specialty.

Octavia shook her head, dismissing her words.

“Thank you for that. The ring is perfect.”

There was a moment of silence between them.

“You didn’t come all the way here in the snow because you were grateful, did you?”

The woman shook her head, still staring at Clarke. Her eyes were as sharp as her brother’s, even though that was where the similarities ended.

“I wanted to finally meet the girl who has my brother completely smitten.” She smirked. “Bell was right, you do look like a princess.”

Thankfully, before Clarke even tried to stutter out a reply, the bell over the door rang, signaling a new arrival.

“Hey, princess, have you wrapped it –” Bellamy stopped, looking from his sister to Clarke. “…yet?” He sighed. “O, what are you doing here?”

Octavia beamed. Bellamy glowered. Clarke grimaced.

“I sneaked out. Your office is boring.” She turned to the blonde, gesturing towards her. “And I wanted to meet the princess.”

At that, color rose up to Bellamy’s cheeks. It was an interesting look on him, because Clarke couldn’t remember ever seeing him flushed, not even due to the weather. It made her stomach flip, just a little bit.

He smiled hesitantly at her and then pulled his sister to the other side of the shop.

“I can’t believe you did this. You aren’t even wearing a coat!”

“You would have noticed if I had tried to grab my coat!”

“That is not an excuse!”

“I’m not trying to find an excuse! You’ve been telling me you are going to ask her out for the past six months!”

“The timing wasn’t right!”

“Well, now _that’s_ an excuse if I’ve ever heard one!”

Clarke coughed into her hand, trying to hide her smile. The siblings were terrible at whispering.

Both Blakes turned towards her, blinking quickly, as if they’d forgotten she was there.

“So…” She tapped the counter anxiously. “You’re not engaged?”

Octavia burst into laughter.

“Oh god, Bell, you’ve got no game!” she managed to say between her giggles. “You were trying to flirt and she thought you were engaged!”

Clarke had to admit it was pretty funny.

“O, can you wait outside?” he asked through gritted teeth, glaring at his sister.

She grinned in response.

“I don’t have a coat.” She bumped her shoulder against him. “As you so kindly pointed out.”

Bellamy growled, but said nothing as he stripped off his coat and threw it at Octavia.

Clarke bit her lip as her eyes took in the sight of his shoulders and arms in that white t-shit. It really was mouth-watering and completely unfair.

“I’m sorry about her,” he said once the door had closed behind his sister. “She’s been very impatient about me asking you out.”

Clarke lowered her eyes to the counter and tried to stop herself from grinning.

“Then you should just do it.” She could feel the weight of his gaze, but her voice didn’t waver. “It’s rude to give the bride more anxiety.”

Bellamy chuckled, and his hand slid across the counter to grab one of hers.

“I guess it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> For more fanatic Bellarke, you can find me as looneytails on tumblr.
> 
> Also, the thing about the new collection of rings is that all those gems are associated with love.


End file.
